Located in Martinho Campos, on a traditional farm in Minas Gerais, Capela de Todos os Santos was a gift for a friend and his family. Surrounded by greenery, the volume of concrete, stone and wood rests serenely on the ground and creates a dialogue with nature, man and the divine.

 

It is drawn from the baptismal font, source of pure water, the origin of everything. From there runs the water mirror, which symbolizes the two banks of the river until it meets the third bank, the “religare”. There, the symbol of the cross recalls, vertically, the connection between earth and heaven and, horizontally, men living side by side. The movement of the cross, in the longitudinal direction, generates space. The wood, peroba from the countryside, was chosen to create an atmosphere of welcome, silence and meditation. The glass at the base allows transparency and connection with nature, with the sky, animals, plants and the land of the place.

The chapel has 160m² and the location was chosen to avoid cutting down trees and taking advantage of the natural profile of the land. Ventilation and lighting, through the zenith frame, renew the air in the environment and bring a scenographic luminosity to the interior.

 

Nothing in the chapel is free. The symbols are concretely represented there, baptism as the initiation of spiritual life, the river as a path and the cross, a moment of reflection, of looking within to connect with our transcendence.

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CHAPEL OF ALL SAINTS by GUSTAVO PENNA

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First the font.

Source of pure water – origin of everything.

 

On both sides of the river you reach the third - the religare; the symbol/synthesis, the cross

 

Heaven and earth – the vertical line

All men – the horizontal

 

The internal space is generated by the displacement of the sacred form.

Space is movement.

 

The wood welcomes, snuggles, protects.

 

Nature is around participating in solidarity.

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Architecture

Gustavo Penna, Laura Penna, Norberto Bambozzi, Alice Flores, Alyne Ferreira, Priscila Dias de Araújo, Catarina Hermanny, Natália Ponciano, Vivian Hunnicutt

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Management and Planning

Risia Botrel

Isabela Tolentino

Place

Martinho Campos – Minas Gerais – Brazil

 

Technical Data
Project year: 2010

Year of completion of the work: 2010
Built area: 160m²

Photos

Leonardo Finotti